Jack Dunham (September 19, 1910 – August 16, 2008) was an American animator and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...

who worked for

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

and

Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios. The studio was originally formed as Universal Cartoon Studios on the initiative ...

during his career. Dunham was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, on September 19, 1910. He began his career by working on

animated shorts A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

of ''

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to ...

'' for

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

in 1932 and later with

Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz ...

. Dunham also worked as an animator on several other Walter Lantz Production

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...

s, including ''

Night Life of the Bugs Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends ...

'' and ''The Fun House'', which were both released in 1936, and ''

Dumb Cluck Dumb may refer to: A human state * Muteness, the condition of being unwilling or unable to speak * Stupidity, a lack of intelligence Songs * "Dumb" (Faith Evans song), 2012 * "Dumb" (Nirvana song), a 1993 song from Nirvana's album ''In Ut ...

'' and ''Duck Hunt'', which were both produced in 1937. He also worked on an episode of ''

Meany, Miny and Moe Meany, Miny, and Moe are the Walter Lantz characters, who made their first appearance in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon "Monkey Wretches" (1935). Their final animated appearance was in 1937 in "The Air Express". Personalities and developme ...

'' and ''

The Country Store ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'', which was released in 1937. Dunham was hired by the

in 1932 (before the Social Security Administration and public records existed), where he worked as an inbetweener, an industry term for an animator's assistant, on the film ''

Snow White And the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

''. Dunham also worked on such films as ''

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

'' and ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...

'' among others and later joined

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. During this time he handled productions in Mexico for ''

Saludos Amigos ''Saludos Amigos'' (Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the sixth Disney animated feature film and the first of the six packa ...

'' and ''

The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action/animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on ...

''. He remained a producer/ unit manager until his departure from Disney in 1947. Dunham moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

in 1955 for a management position at

Associated Screen News of Canada The Associated Screen News of Canada (ASN) was incorporated in 1920 by the Canadian Pacific Railway in Montreal. Ben Norrish, who formerly worked for the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau, was appointed its director. In the period from 192 ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. He later enjoyed a career creating both animated and

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

commercials in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

and Montreal. Dunham created the official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...

of the

St-Hubert BBQ St-Hubert BBQ Ltd is a chain of Canadian casual dining restaurants best known for its rotisserie chicken. St-Hubert is most popular in Quebec, and in other French-Canadian areas such as Eastern Ontario and New Brunswick. St-Hubert is the ...

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

, the

St. Hubert rooster St-Hubert BBQ Ltd is a chain of Canadian casual dining restaurants best known for its rotisserie chicken. St-Hubert is most popular in Quebec, and in other French-Canadian areas such as Eastern Ontario and New Brunswick. St-Hubert is the ...

. St-Hubert is a chain of

rotisserie Rotisserie, also known as spit-roasting, is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit – a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This metho ...

chicken based in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

. Dunham also produced St-Hubert's first

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

. The St. Hubert rooster is still used as the mascot and logo for the St-Hubert chain as of 2009. An article in the ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'' in March 2006 revealed that Dunham and his wife, Dorothy Stewart, a former

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

, were homeless following their eviction from their Montreal apartment in February 2006. The ''Gazette'' reported, "

Social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administ ...

agencies are trying to place the couple in a care facility, but that could take awhile." Dunham and his wife, who had been married for 51 years at the time, were taken to the St. Luc Hospital to live following the publication of the article. Their move to the government-run hospital was reportedly against the couple's will. Jack and Dorothy escaped from the facility, but were found by police in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and returned. Jack Dunham died on August 16, 2008, at the age of 97. Erroneous reports list him as passing on March 15, 2009. The error in the date and age at the time of his death is because Quebec's Public Curator didn't notify Dunham's friend and only listed contact of his passing until March 15 the following year.

References

External links

*
YouTube: Interviews with Jack Dunham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunham, Jack 1910 births 2008 deaths Walt Disney Animation Studios people Animators from North Dakota Canadian animators American animators American animated film producers Canadian animated film producers American television producers Canadian television producers People from Bismarck, North Dakota Artists from Montreal American emigrants to Canada